If you were to ask the average MLB fan to name the best pitcher in baseball, odds are you’ll hear names like Jacob deGrom, Shohei Ohtani, Sandy Alcantara and Justin Verlander. But the correct answer may very well be a pitcher who doesn’t even play in Major League Baseball.
Japan’s Roki Sasaki is a 21-year-old phenom who plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball. And on Monday, he will make his first start on U.S. soil — in a soldout loanDepot Park — when he takes on Mexico in the World Baseball Classic semifinal.
While this will be his first appearance in a big-league stadium, it almost definitely won’t be his last. His arrival to Major League Baseball is inevitable, but the wait may be longer than most big-league fans and teams would prefer.